Towline fixture



ISHIO NISHIQKA TOWLINE FIXTURE Sept. 8, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 18, 1963 INVENTOR. ISHIO NISHIOKA A TTOR/VE' Y lSHlO NISHIOKA TOWLINE FIXTURE Sept. 8, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 18, 1963 INVENTOR SHIO NISHIOKA ATTORNEY Sept. 8, 1964 ISHIO NISHIOKA 3,147,732

- TOWLINE FIXTURE Filed 001;. 18, 196 s Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR ISHIO NISHIOKA ATTORNEY XM M United States .Patent 3,147,732 TOWLINE FIXTURE Ishio Nishioka, Tammi-kn, Kobe-sin, Japan, assignor to Continental Oil Company, Ponca City, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 317,232 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-235) This invention relates to av towline fixture for the purpose of stretching a towline between two separate main bodies or vessels for towline fixing or connection. The fixture comprises rope guiding means provided on one of the towline fixing bodies, an endless guide rope spanning said guiding means, a rope fitting having a rope-introducing channel provided adjacent to one of said guiding means, a guide rope support fixed to said endless guide rope, a towline support provided on the other one of the towline fixing bodies, and a towline provided at one end with a guide rope and at the other end with a recovery.

line through a catch means which engages with said introductory channel in such manner that said towline can be extended between said introductory channel and the rope support through said guide rope. The objects of the invention are to enable a towline to be fixed on or removed from the towline fixture accurately and simply, and also to make a large size towline, which usually presents difiiculty in handling, readily attachable to the fixture by use of a small size guide rope.

The invention will be described hereunder with reference to an embodiment thereof as applied to towing of a barge by a towing mother ship by means of a towline, Shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a vessel in the tow of a towing mother ship by means of the towline fixtures according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the details of the important portions of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view of a guide rope, support and conduit arrangement on the vessel being towed;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view, partly broken, of the guiding structure for the guide rope on the vessel being towed;

FIGURE 5 is a plan of the winch on the part of the mother ship;

FIGURE 6 is a View along VIVI of FIGURE 2 indicated by an arrow; and

FIGURES 7 and 8 are views along VIIVII and VIII-VIII, respectively, of FIGURE 6 indicated by arrows.

The numeral 1 indicates a towing mother ship which represents one of the main bodies for the towline fixing,

' constructed as to take up or unwind the towline by the and 2 indicates a vessel to be towed which represents the other main body for the towline fixing. On the bow of the tow 2 are installed as rope guiding means a winch 3 and a guide roll 4 with a vertical spacing therebetween, both 3 and 4 being spanned by endless guide rope 5. Guide rope 5 has a guide rope support 6 attached to it, and on the tip of an arm of said support 6 projecting sidewise from the guide rope 5 is a locking piece 6a having a notched disclike cross section, i.e., a side section has been removed to receive and lock therein a guide rope later described. The locking piece 6a has a clampscrew 6b screwed therein. An endless guide rope 5 is inserted through a guide conduit 7 disposed between the winch 3 and the guide roll 4, and the arm piece of said support 6 is inserted through a slit 7a of said conduit 7, so that the guide rope 5 is not twisted while in motion.

On the stern of the towing mother ship 1 which represents the other main body for towline fixing, a Winch 8 is installed which constitutes a towline support. The winch 8 is equipped with a pair of drums 8a and 811. so

force supplied by a motor M or otherwise, and also to allow idling of either one or both of the drums by operation of a clutch or other means adaptable for the purpose (FIGURE 5).

The numeral 9 indicates a guide rope of small size connected at one end with a towline 10 of large size through a connector, and the free end thereof is provided with a locking circular portion 9a which fits the guiding channel to be mentioned later. The base end of said towline 10 is connected to a recovery line 12 by a stopper 11 shaped like a truncated cone. Said ropes 9, 10, and 12 are usually wound initially around the drum 8a of the winch 8. The connector between 9 and 10 may be dispensed with by decreasing the number of element wires of the towline 10 as it tapers off and by twisting the remaining element wires as the smaller guide rope 9.

In addition, another guide roll 13 is fixed on the same axis as said roll 4 provided on the vessel 2, and still another roll 14 is disposed oppositely to said roll 13. The circumferences of both of said rolls 13 and 14 are formed with channels for fitting of the guide rope 9 and the towline 10, and, as shown in FIGURE 8, said stopper 11 which serves as a catching means for said recovery line 12 is disposed in a space between said rolls 13 and 14 in engagement therewith. Thus the fixing means of the towline 10 is constituted by both of said rolls 13 and 14.

In the figures the numeral 15 indicates a deckend roller of the towing mother ship 1. In the device of the invention, a chain may be used instead of said guide rope 5.

As the device of the invention has such a construction as has been explained, the guide rope 9 wound around the drum 8a of the winch 8 is unwound and delivered to the vessel 2 for eifecting the tow connection, and it is inserted in the locking piece 6a of the guide rope support 6 projecting sidewise from said endless guide rope 5. At the same time the clampscrew 6b is tightened to cause the end locking ring 9a to be locked into said support 6. In this manner, said guide rope 9 is connected to the endless guide rope 5.

Next, the winch 3 on the tow 2 is operated to move the endless guide rope 5, and as a result the guide rope 9 connected thereto passes around the roll 13 and is reversed over the winch 3 for return to the original position. The clampscrew 6b is then loosened and guide rope 9 is removed from the support 6, and the end of said guide rope is brought back to the towing mother ship 1 to be taken up over the drum 8b of the winch 8. Winch 8 is further operated to feed out towline 10 from drum 8a and concurrently take up the guide rope 9 on drum 8b. Towline 10 passes between the rolls 13 and 14 by means of said guide rope 9, as shown in FIGURE 8, and the stopper 11 is eventually seated in the space between said rolls 13 and 14 after the guide rope 9 and a portion of towline 10 are wound around the drum 8b of the winch 8, and part of the recovery line 12 has been unwound from drum 8a of the winch 8. Thus the towline is fixed so that when the towing ship 1 is caused to advance after such arrangements, the vessel 2 is effectively taken in tow.

When the tow 2 is to be released from the towing ship 1, the drum 8b of the winch 8 is clutched off into an idling condition, and drum 8a is driven to take up the recovery line 12 followed by the towline 10 and the guide rope 9 as Well.

In the event a submersible vessel is towed by means of the device of the invention, the underwater depth of the vessel can be readily changed by taking up or unwinding a desired length of the towline with the pair of drums 8a and 8b of the winch 8 so as to adjust the span of the towline.

As has so far been explained, this invention provides Patented Sept. 8, 1964 a system wherein an endless guide rope having a guide rope support afixed in the intermediate thereof is stretched over the rope guiding means which are installed rotatably and with a certain spacing on one of the vessels, and a rope fixing means having a'rope channel is installed close to one of said rope guiding means, while the other vessel is provided with a towline support, said support holding in position a towline which has a guide rope fixed at one end thereof and a catch means at the other end which fits in said rope channel. In fixing the towline, the tip of the guide rope is attached to the guide rope support fixed to the endless guide rope on one of the vessels, thereby causing movement of said endless guide rope over the distance between the rope guiding means which said guide rope spans, to accompany a corresponding movement of said endless guide rope. This causes the towline connected to said guide rope to pass through the rope channel provided close to one of said guiding means, and also causes said guide rope to return to the rope support on the other main body for towline fixture. Accordingly, the catching means disposed between said towline and the recovery line fits in said rope channel, and thus said towline can be stretched between the rope support and said rope channel and eventually between said vessels. According to the invention, fixing of the towline to the main bodies for fixture can be conducted readily and accurately as described. Moreover, since the towline fixing is performed by using the guide rope connected therewith instead of handling the towline directly, fixing of a large size towline which usually presents much difiiculty is performed conveniently by the reduced size of the guide rope. These are some of the diversified advantages of the invention.

The present invention has been described with reference to an embodiment thereof, but it should be clearly understood that the description is merely illustrative and not restrictive, and that numerous other variations in the design are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A towline fixture comprising rope guiding means provided on one of the towline fixing bodies, an endless guide rope spanning said guiding means, a rope fixing means having a rope-introducing channel and which is disposed adjacent to one of said guiding means, a guide rope support fixed to said endless guide rope, a towline support provided on the other one of the towline fixing bodies, and a towline provided at one end with a guide rope and at the other end with a recovery line through a catch means to be engaged with said rope-introducing channel, in such manner that said towline can be extended between said rope channel and the rope support through said guide rope.

No references cited. 

